Big Donors Bolster Obama's Grass Roots

Washington Post: Despite Talk Of Small Donors, Wealthy "Bundlers" Are Critical And Have A Prominent Role In Campaign

(Washingtonpost.com)  Still, Obama wants to hold his own against Clinton in attracting big donors. He began assembling his bundlers well before announcing his bid in February 2007. Chairing his national finance committee was Penny Pritzker, heiress of Chicago's Hyatt hotel fortune, who raised money for his 2004 Senate campaign. Running day-to-day fundraising was North Carolina native Julianna Smoot, who had raised money for the national trial lawyers association and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Smoot put together a list of wealthy Democrats, and Obama, with only two years in Washington under his belt, deftly courted them. On Feb. 5, 2007, for example, Florida investment manager Mark Gilbert flew to Washington to meet with Obama but got only a short evening meeting before the candidate broke off for another engagement.

Obama did not realize that Gilbert had come just to see him, and when he found out, he quickly made amends. Gilbert got a call that night at his hotel. "It was the senator," he said. "He said he didn't realize he was going to have so little time," and he invited Gilbert to breakfast. "I was very impressed that someone trying to build a national team would reach out like that," he said.

The bundlers grew to include perennial Democratic money men, including Louis B. Susman, the Citigroup executive who headed fundraising for Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) in 2004. Kirk Wager, a Florida trial lawyer and Kerry fundraiser, had planned to sit out this election before Obama persuaded him to come on board.

"Barack called me and said, 'I really need your help.' He said, 'No, Kirk, I really mean it. I literally know less than five people in the state of Florida,'" Wager said.

But because Clinton had already enlisted many reliable party backers, Obama also had to appeal to newcomers, said James L. Hudson, a D.C. developer and Obama bundler. "It required some stretching," he said.

New faces included Scott Blake Harris, a Washington telecommunications lawyer whose son worked as an intern in Obama's Senate office. Harris avoided Obama's ban on accepting money from federal lobbyists by cutting off his work for such companies as Microsoft, Cisco and Sprint-Nextel at the end of 2006.

"I had never raised a nickel for anybody," Harris said. "But I just found him to be totally captivating and moving."

Chicago offered more opportunities. Obama knew he could count on longtime supporters in the African American business community, such as his wife's friend, Desiree Rogers, head of the Peoples Gas utility. Her ex-husband, John W. Rogers, the head of Ariel Capital Management, is also a bundler.

A $1,000-a-person fundraiser that Desiree Rogers hosted in January attracted 600 people and spilled over to a neighbor's apartment. Obama repeated his pitch three times, she said.

"He listens intently to . . . questions, and he answers them in as long and personable way as he can. He has an uncanny ability to remember names and the subject area someone is interested in," Rogers said.

The Chicago contingent also includes James Crown, a director of General Dynamics, the military contractor in which his family holds a large stake. The company has been the beneficiary of at least one Obama earmark, a request to spend $8 million on a high-explosive technology program for the Army's Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The program got $1.3 million.

The descendants of Henry Crown, architect of a great American fortune, James Crown and his family donted more than $128,000 to Obama's U.S. Senate race in 2004. Crown was among the first people Obama approached as he contemplated a White House run.

Crown said he and Obama never discussed General Dynamics, which, with its focus on Army programs, is a defense contractor that has benefited directly from the Iraq war. Obama's opposition to the war never meant that he wanted the armed forces to be poorly equipped, Crown said.

"I stand in agreement with what he has said [about the Iraq war.] Those who work in the defense industry are extremely focused on the national defense," he said. "That doesn't mean we want to be fighting wars."

The Chicago finance elite has been a major hub of Obama's fundraising, led by Pritzker. Another major figure is billionaire Neil G. Bluhm, a hotel and office building developer. But Bluhm has posed a symbolic problem for Obama in Pennsylvania, site of an April 22 primary, because his latest endeavor is a push to open a controversial casino along the Philadelphia waterfront.

Bluhm's path crossed Obama's in 2003, when Bluhm pursued a gaming license for a Chicago riverboat. That June, he gave the first $1,000 of what would become more than $78,000 in contributions from him and his family.

In 2006, Pennsylvania awarded Bluhm one of two coveted Philadelphia gambling licenses. Last year, his partners in the project, called SugarHouse, made $2,300 donations to Obama, including nearly $50,000 from the Philadelphia law firm Cozen O'Connor, which represents him in the deal.

Bluhm said that the gaming project "has got nothing to do with" his support for Obama and that the two have never discussed it. "My interest in him is, I think he's inspirational, I think he will enormously improve our economy and our relations with other countries," he said.

The Obama-Bluhm connection startled members of Philadelphia's anti-casino groups who knew that the senator had resisted efforts to legalize gambling. It was "really surprising to find [Bluhm] in Obama's corner," said Debbie King, who helped start Mothers Against SugarHouse. "I was inclined to vote for Hillary. But when I heard Obama's criticism about gambling, I thought about changing my vote. Now I'm not sure what to do."

Then there is Griffin, the hedge fund executive. Of his $230,000 in contributions since 2003, slightly more has gone to Republicans than to Democrats, including $2,000 to President Bush's reelection campaign. When Obama ran for Senate, Griffin backed Jack Ryan, Obama's original GOP opponent.

But Obama's presidential campaign launched just as Griffin's Citadel sought to go public, and the investment group moved to enlarge its Washington presence, vastly increasing its lobbying spending to $790,000 last year. Its focus: fighting a proposal to apply the higher corporate tax rate to private equity firms and hedge funds that go public.

In July, Griffin told the New York Times that his initiative would be diminished if his tax rates went up. "I am proud to be an American," he said. "But if the tax became too high, as a matter of principle I would not be working this hard.''

That month, Obama came out for closing the loophole, and he later decried the legislation's collapse in October, after opposition by Citadel and others. "If there was ever a doubt that Washington lobbyists don't actually represent real Americans, it's the fact that they stopped leaders of both parties from requiring elite investment firms to pay their fair share of taxes," he said.

A Citadel spokeswoman declined to comment. Stephen rown, a finance professor at New York University, said it is hard not to discern self-interest. Hedge funds "have a strong interest in becoming involved in the political process, and that is really the whole story behind their support of Obama," he said. "In their analysis -- and they have good analysts -- Obama is likely to be successful, so it is very much in their advantage to have a strong voice with him."

Database editor Sarah Cohen and staff researchers Lucy Shackelford, Alice Crites and Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.

[prinzowhales]

Obama is backed by the same gangsters who are backing the other two mainstream candidates...And, of course, his backers don''t want to believe that this matters.

Its a shame. Suddenly Obama is promoted in the media, becomes a brand name--"Change"--and everybody wants a can...Doesn''t matter to them that Obama and Clinton were made in the same laboratory...just like Canada Dry and Seagrams...same people make them both.

Obama is as unacceptable as Hillary...and McCain, for that matter. If you really want "change", you are not going to get it by voting for the same old crowd.

[moblou]

Kudos to CBS for finally printing the truth about Obama'' scampaign funds and some of the other issues surrounding his campaign. When will the rest of the MSM respond in kind?

[moblou]

Finally some more of the "truth about Obama". Don''t stop now because there is much more to be revealed.

[jockh]

Hillarys problem is that voters know how easily the Clintons lie; and that both Hillary and Bill would lie on a stack of bibles.

Misspeaking is one thing, repeating something over and over makes it a FLAT LIE !!
The Clintons simply cannot help themselves; they tell a big lie when a small lie will do. And they tell a small lie when the truth will do. After careful training from Bill, Hillary can lie out of both sides of her mouth at the same time even when there''s no particular reason to.
Lets face it, it takes a bare faced liar to confuse a hug from a little girl in Bosnia with the terror of running from sniper bullets.

If you are inclined to overlook Clinton lies just because Hillary is your favorite for nomination then just look at the trouble the country is in because of the lies of President Bush: one million Iraqis and over 4000 American servicemen dead; that%u2019s right DEAD, all because of lies. So you see, the lies of a President really do matter and God help America if the world famous misspeaking Clintons get elected.

[eroosevelt08]

It sounds as though the Republicans are purchasing the candidate to lose to Senator McCain.

[vmcneal2]

Obama claims to be American but he was born in Hawaii which is not a real state. Look at the people in Hawaii, they don''t look like real Americans!!!!

Obama''s father was born in Kenya, an Arab country and was the head of ETAH-SYKNOH, a super radical muslim. group. ETAH-SYKNOH spelled backwards is HATE HONKYS!!!

Obama claims he is not a racist but when he went bowling in Pensylvania he would only use a BLACK bowling ball!!!! Not only does this prove that Obama is a racist, but it showed that is also a lousy bowler. Real Americans don''t throw gutter balls.

Obama is a radical Muslim and if he gets in the White House the first thing he will do is ban all pork products in America. No more real bacon!!! I say "from my cold dead hands".

[rowdytexan2]

Posted by sjbj2322 at 07:41 PM : Apr 11, 2008

Well said!

[whitepicks2]

Lobbyists are listed as the #10 industry sector donation for McCain.

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/indus.asp?id=N00006424&cycle=2008

Obama doesn''t take money from lobbyists.

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/indus.asp?id=N00009638&cycle=2008

This does matter since lobbyist monies drown out the concerns of the populace. ''Lobbyists'' are listed at #20 top industry for Hillary.

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/indus.asp?id=N00000019&cycle=2008

Though, it really comes down to war...........

Vote McCain = a vote for endless, ambiguous war not only in Iraq but Iran - thousands more dead Americans.

Vote Obama = out of Iraq in 16 months.

[obama8years]

FOR People thinking Wrights Church is no big deal.
This was airbrushed off Jeremiah Wright%u2019s church%u2019s web site:

Before it was completely erased there was a warning there to blacks that whites are %u201Ccaptors%u201D and blacks %u201Ccaptives.%u201D

One reason whites seek to capture helpless black captives is to kill them. Kill them? Yes, that%u2019s what the site states: white %u201Ccaptors%u201D plot to kill black %u201Ccaptives.%u201D

Here is what used to be on the site:

%u201CClassic methodology on control of captives teaches that captors must keep the captive ignorant educationally, but trained sufficiently well to serve the system.

%u201CAlso, the captors must be able to identify the %u2018talented tenth%u2019 of those subjugated, especially those who show promise of providing the kind of leadership that might threaten the captor%u2019s control.

%u201CThose so identified as [sic] separated from the rest of the people by:

%u201CKilling them off directly, and/or fostering a social system that encourages them to kill off one another.%u201D

So-called %u201Cblack liberation theology%u201D is running throughout a lot of America%u2019s black church. This is of the devil. It is evil. It is racism%u2014powerfully so.

[kstar42]

He has only had 2 years in National Politics. Unbeleivable.


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Posted by obama8years at 06:29 PM : Apr 11, 2008
They think he''s the anti-christ.....whatever

[sjbj2322]

obama8years....I am as perplexed as you. I am on the campus of our local university no less than 5 days a week. I have on countless occasions had the opportunity to engage some of these young people on why they support Senator Obama. To date only 4 have been able to give me even one example of any policy or plan that he promotes and even then misinterpreted the policy/plan. As such I am convinced it is more akin to a fad. They get together and chant Obama like its a cheerleading event but when it boils down to it most of them don''t even seem to know what sport is being played much less anything about the players. Moreover, I''ve had coffee numerous times with professors who too are baffled by the student response and too cite how truly naive many of the student''s knowledge on the issues or candidates seems to be. Maybe it truly is an earnest effort on the part of young people to put aside issues of race and gender which should be applauded; however, voting for someone because it makes you feel that what your doing is endeavoring to turn a page in history while ignoring the truth regarding the person is doing little more than being selectively ignorant. So so much for the claim that Obama is winning among the more educated. Clearly being afforded the opportunity to acquire a good education does not equate with actually applying yourself in such a way to ensure you get one.

[obama8years]

I am a 30 year old family man with 2 children.
I can understand the college kids voting for Obama because there college kids. But when you see this seasoned adults wanting to vote for Obama even after knowing about his Hamas connections, his Pastor, Ayers, RezKo , his radical muslim cousin, Farakahn, Black Panther Endorsement and 90% of Blacks voting for Obama because of his skin color. I can not for the life of me figure why he has so much support. Can anyone give me any reason why they would even consider Obama. Is it because he is good looking and young and talks about change. He has only had 2 years in National Politics. Unbeleivable.

[taotxzen]

OUCH! The Daily Show''s Eviscerating "Documentary" About Fox News - Greatness!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/11/smackdown-the-emdaily-sho_n_96185.html

[popstom1]

I don''t live in Iarq

[bgwinnett]

Big Donors Bolster Obama''s Grass Roots

*******************

Who are they? Hamas, Hezbollah, Iranian Revolutionary Guard or the Baader-Meinhof Brigade, tell us ultra rightwingers.

[rowdytexan2]

OBAMA........ZEROOOOOOOOO CREDIBILITY! He''s lied about everything including his legislative ability which is ZEROOOOOOOOOOO!

[tracy1morgan]

"...are you saying that in America, women who *happen* to be lesbians dont matter?"


CORRECT

LOL

[mudrose-2009]

It''s called George Soros and so-called 527 groups such as the Democrat-supporting Fund for America or the newly named Progressive Media Fund founded by none other than a guy of questionable sexual orientation by the name of Brock. Then there is Bagala. That makes for the Divine Trinity of backers for B. Hussein Obama. Soros, Brock and Bagala. Progressive Media recently announced that it plans for a $40 million four-month campaign against Mr. McCain, and that''s only one group. They are going to smear McCain through the 501(c)s since you can''t identify the donors that way. So while B. Hussein Obama is attempting to preserve his reputation as a reformer, he''s exploiting his new financial advantage. My, my we are all beginning to learn how expansive the meaning of "change" is.

[popstom1]

bamabi is down in Pa.and like the TV ad the more you
know Wright Rezko Auchi canada Ayres and So Pa.
look before you vote

[destardi]

LucyInBuford

You sound like yet another Hillary supporting lesbian over 50 and without love in your life. Problem with your gal Hillary: ZERO CREDIBILITY!


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Posted by neoconism at 02:30 PM : Apr 11, 2008
+ report abuse

you disgust me.

How big is your IQ? People who are fair in their retorts, usually have a bigger than average IQ. Small minds resort to personal attacks, and curse words..instead of logic.

Even if it was true that all of Hillary''s supporters were lesbians (tell that to my 55 year old former die-hard Bush supporter-father), are you saying that in America, women who *happen* to be lesbians don''t matter?

That''s not every inclusive, as Obama is supposed to be a "uniter" (just like BUSH was supposed to be a UNITER".

Dude, give it up...your logic/rationalization/reading comprehension is poor.